Blogging again afetr a while...

I've been super busy with my course work and finishing the year off...

Here is an axample what I've been up to!

 Exploring advertising photography, mostly products and editorial portraiture...

CANON - CPS EVENT EDINBURGH

Today I got a chance to go to a Canon Professional Event in Edinburgh to have a look at the new 1D Mark 4... 

and test some lenses I have had my eye on like the 85mm L F/1.2 (by the way a stunning lens!)

 

This shot was taken in ambient light with 1D mark IV & 85mm L f/1.2 (f1.2 @ 1/125th ISO 100)

  

and this is what Canonian's would say "HEAVEN"

So 1D mark IV,

First thoughts were auto focus and the matrix system are much better than previous models!

(I did a burst shot with a subject running towards me and 9/10 images were sharp!)

ISO might not be as good as Nikon D3 but comes very close to that performance

ISO 12800, f/2.8 @ 1/2000 (c) Kenneth Malcolm  model (me)

So if you have extra £4000 and don't really like Nikon like me... This is a VERY good all around body! Especially when you work with prime lenses... the performance of the chip combined with the quality of Canon primes is just stunning! Likes of 85mm f/1.2, 35mm f/1.4, 50mm f1.4. The image quality is pretty much the same as D3 but how easy it was just to pick up and start using as a Canon user...

Thanks to Canon and UK CPS rep Frankie for a lot of info and cleaning my censors for FREE!

 

Frankie Jim, Canon UK CPS (Shot with 1D Mark IV, 50mm L F/1.2)

-Otto-

Hiper (Highland Perthshire Youth Arts) Project

I had an fun time taking photos for Drew's Hiper Project, Perfect Pete and the Word Eating Ray Gun of Doom ( I hope I got that right ) We even had a "celebrity" cast member "Simon Cowell"

 

 His skin tones were a bit tricky :)

-Otto-

Irving Penn Inspired Still Life Stuff

Here is a shoot I did at home... with a fairly simple set-up,

2 x speedlight (softbox and umbrella)

1 x arctic white mountboard (for background)

a glass chopping board (for reflections and to contain the structure in water...)

And this is what it looks like

My First Photography "Award"

The best Scottish music photo of 2009

When we launched The Pop Cop's competition to find the Best Scottish live music photo of 2009, what we didn't tell you was that we had lined up a very special guest to judge the entries - the world-renowned Glasgow-born photographer HARRY BENSON.

The man is a legend. He got his first break when he travelled with The Beatles to America in 1964, taking some of the band's most iconic shots. Since then, Mr Benson has photographed every US president from Eisenhower to Obama, as well as the likes of Michael Jackson, Judy Garland, Mick Jagger, James Brown and Amy Winehouse. He was awarded the CBE last year for his services to photography and is currently contracted to Vanity Fair.

Honourable mentions

Otto Koota - The Red Hot Chilli Pipers (Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry; March 10, 2009)

Harry Benson: "I had to add an Honourable Mentions category. It was very hard to choose just three. There are many excellent photographs in the competition, many of which could have been number one and I would say to all those who entered to keep working and not let anyone discourage you. The photographs are all very well taken and each has a presence of its own."

My First Post

I finally have given in and started blogging, thanks to Hamish... (convincing arguments).

So this blog will almost be like a window to my struggle in becoming a "professional" photographer.

For those who don't know me, I'm a 30YO man who made a U-Turn from retail management to do something challenging and vocational (something you need to have a talent and drive). So hence i made the leap first to study graphic design for a year and then realizing photography is what I want to do... (wise? who knows, but a lot of fun!) Now studying Professional Photography @ Stevenson College in Edinburgh.

So take a seat and maby laugh and cry with me when I try to make it as a photographer!

-Otto-